Delaware Township Hall Bluebird Trail

Delaware Township Hall, located at 2590 Liberty Road, is home to fourteen bluebird nestboxes. A fourteen acre lot is home to the hall and the property includes a six acre open woodland named the John Young Park that includes walking trails and other commodities designed for public use. The remaining acreage is two fields of mowed grass along the northern and southern sides of the wooded park.

Two of the fourteen boxes stand in opposite ends of the woods and will never raise bluebirds because they have 1-1/8-inch patches over their entrance holes to admit only Carolina Chickadees and House Wrens. In the grassy fields, twelve bluebird boxes are mounted as six pairs. Paired boxes stand at five yards apart at each location to allow Eastern Bluebirds and Tree Swallows to tolerate each other while nesting.

The paired boxes are spaced with three box pairs standing along the northern mowed field, and three box pairs stand along the southern grassland.

Before his passing on July 1, 2017, Scott Putman had maintained and monitored the trail boxes for a decade after one of his eagle scout sons had established the trail. Laura Kelly stepped forward to religiously monitor the trail’s fourteen boxes during the 2018 season. Laura recorded the production of 18 bluebirds, 19 Tree Swallows and three Carolina Chickadees, for a good season.

If you need a break and a nice birding hike, check out the John Young Park, and have lunch in its shelter house. And don’t forget to watch the busy nestboxes.